Street Fighter V Menat Reveal, My Thoughts

Street Fighter V's roster has grown again! And this time, it includes what I think is the series' first Egyptian character. Say hello to Menat!

When I first heard her, I thought she may have had a connection to Rose. She does talk about destiny and fate, things the tarot card-reading Rose deals with as well. She also seems to use a crystal ball in battle, which is kind of cool. I wonder if she'll have a unique mechanic like Kolin and F.A.N.G. have.

I wonder if that's her theme in the background. It's pretty neat.

She seems to employ dancing quite a bit in her moveset, which makes sense. Her name is another name for the Egyptian goddess Hathor, and one of the things she was a goddess of was dance. There's also a bit of a cat-like quality to her, which also makes sense. The ancient Egyptians loved their cats.

I can't really analyze her fighting style, as I know jack squat about fighting games. The only fighting games I ever really played were Street Fighter II and the Smash Bros. series. But she does seem to have some cool moves.

I like her. I think she's cute. Hope people take to her.

Squadron Supreme #8 (April 1986)

Welcome back to Earth-712! Every month, we've watched the Squadron Supreme, the World's Mightiest Heroes, attempt to bring their shattered world from the brink. Through it all, we saw tragedy and triumph. So, let's see how things are going for our heroes, shall we?

Previously on Squadron Supreme: Nighthawk attempts to recruit Master Menace to help him take on the Squadron, and Master Menace was like, "Nope. I'll beat 'em on my own." Menace then summons an alternate universe Hyperion to infiltrate and tear down the Squadron from within. However, the alternate Hyperion renegs when he falls for Zarda, secretly killing her elderly husband.

The cover is really awesome. It features two Hyperions fighting in front of what looks like a ruined Mount Rushmore, the Squadron reacting to this in shock. The cover promises a battle between the two Hyperions...and it will be to the death. Boy, do we get that here.

"The Clash"
Writer: Mark Gruenwald
Penciller: Bob Hall
Inker: Sam DeLa Rosa
Letterer: Rick Parker
Colorist: "Max" Scheele
Editor: Ralph Macchio
Editor-in-Chief: Jim Shooter

The story begins with the Whizzer running through a city.

We also get a bit of a glimpse of his origins. Stanley Stewart was once an ordinary mail carrier, who liked to jog. One night, he ran through a strange fog, and he discovered that he could run faster and farther than any mortal man. He had decided to become a costumed crimefighter, and had originally intended to become the Boomer, but his wife said that name was stupid. So, he became the Whizzer. And he wears a yellow costume. Yes, make the jokes. I'm guessing that particular joke isn't a thing on Earth-712.

Stewart is enjoying himself, as his work lately hasn't really been giving him time to just go running for fun. However, his day of fun would be interrupted. On the other side of town, two of his old enemies are robbing a bank.

Meet Rustler and Bollix. I've heard theories that they were supposed to be nods to Terra-Man and Sportsmaster. The police can't catch them because they have the forcefield belts (remember those?) that protect them from harm. Whizzer tries to help, but the belts manage to knock him back, too. Whizzer cleverly finds a way around that.

Yup, he decides to dribble them like basketballs to the police station. I love comics. They get locked up, bragging that with their forcefields, they can't be touched...nor can they be B-Modded. However, Whizzer reminds them of something. Turns out after 96 hours of constant use, the forcefield belts' power source burns out. Also...they can't touch anything outside the forcefields...like food.

Speaking of the force belts, the scene switches to one of the new factories for manufacturing them. Tom Thumb and Shape are about to go to lunch when the Whizzer tells thumb about his misadventure. We then check in on Blue Eagle and Quagmire. Quagmire flirts with a female employee, and Blue Eagle gets really mad about that.

Quagmire tries to defend himself, saying that because of the B-Modding he was forced to undergo, he can't do anything wrong anymore even if he wanted to. He eats a fist from Blue Eagle. Quagmire taunts him about it, and Eagle angrily flies off. While in the air, he thinks about his actions and realized that he's been distracted about Lady Lark being B-Modded and quitting the Squadron, and it's made him much more tense. Yeah, he totally has a thing for her.

When he flies back, he learned there was an accident at the factory. A vat of highly concentrated tranquilizer gas got accidentally punctured, and Quagmire got thirty people out by himself. Unfortunately, he also took a massive dosage of the gas...and he's not looking good. A horrified Blue Eagle blames himself for this and takes Quagmire to the hospital.

At the hospital complex in Squadron City, Dr. Decibel is examining Arcanna. He's confused by this, as Arcanna doesn't seem pregnant to him. She's not showing.

Yeah. Arcanna wants to remain on active duty, so she hid her pregnancy from the Squadron. She hated being treated like "spun glass" when she had her last child. Uh, Arcanna, maybe the reason the Squadron took you off active duty during your last pregnancy is because maybe they were afraid you'd get hurt fighting a supervillain and end up suffering a miscarriage or something? I'm just saying, that possibility is preventable. Despite this, Dr. Decibel is ordered by Arcanna to keep it quiet, and due to his B-Modding, Decibel must obey.

The scene then shifts to Hyperion, Doctor Spectrum, and Lamprey heading towards Squadron City. The three had just done some crisis intervention, and Hype is in a great mood. He zips ahead, and Spectrum notes that Hyperion moved on Zarda quicker than this. Lamprey mentally notes something. Due to the nature of his energy-siphoning powers, he can sense energy, and he noticed that Hyperion's is a bit off. However, he can't say anything. The Squadron believes the Hyperion they're working with is the real one, and as a result, he can't voice his suspicions.

Hyperion arrives at Squadron City, and he and Zarda have a bit of a romantic moment, briefly interrupted by Foxfire. But unbeknownst to them, they are being watched.

Yup. The real Hyperion is trapped outside the timestream, which looks like he's trapped in an infinite-sized cloud. Man, the Bleed is rather...misty. After recapping how he got there, and his attempts to break out, he sees someone in the endless mists.

Yup, it's Hyperion's old enemy Master Menace, who fled here after his plan, which he recounts to Hyperion because comics, went wrong. He's been trying to go back, but his armor is working fine. He realizes he needs a power source. The two realize they'll have to work together. Menace agrees as long as the Squadron leaves him alone. Hyperion can't promise that, so they go their separate ways. Later, Hyperion tells Menace he'll agree to the terms on one condition: Menace does nothing to interfere with them or the Utopia Program. Basically, we'll leave you alone if you leave us alone. Menace gives his word as a criminal. Hyperion fires his atomic vision at an induction coil on Menace's armor, and the two are able to return to Earth-712.

The two materialize over Menace's lab/castle. Yup, he owns a castle. I bet the inside's like a technological Wonderland. Hyperion drops him and flies off.

The funny part? Menace's armor is able to protect him from a fall even from a very high height. Hyperion was being a little troll. But to be fair, Menace did try to leave without him, so...yeah. Hyperion streaks towards Squadron City, vowing to make the fake Hyperion pay for what he has done.

In Squadron City, the team are having a meeting over Quagmire. Dr. Decibel reports that Quagmire is in a very deep coma, and treatment isn't helping him very much. Tom Thumb offers to start work developing an anti-toxin. And the meeting gets crashed.

712-Hyperion bursts in, demanding to see the 616-Hyperion outside, much to the shock of the Squadron. That is an epic entrance right there. 712-Hyperion decks 616-Hyperion with a Mighty Punch, sending him flying outside. 712-Hype explains about the imposter, then flies after him after warning the Squadron to stay out of his way. Zarda is horrified by this, and orders the Squadron to go after the Hyperions.

During the chase, Lamprey points out that he sensed that the energies 616-Hyperion had were off. He wasn't able to say anything because his B-Modding prevented him from doing anything that would betray a Squadron member...including revealing one was an infiltrator.

The two Hyperions brawl in the sky, their blows being described a like claps of thunder, ad producing sparks that light up the sky. Their brawl takes them to Mount Rushmore, or as it's called on Earth-712, Presidents' Mountain.

I just noticed something. The real life Mount Rushmore has the heads of George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt, and Abraham Lincoln. But the Earth-712 version seems to have the heads of what looks like Benjamin Franklin and I think John F. Kennedy in the place of Jefferson and Roosevelt. Must've been some interesting alt-history going on in this world. Anyway, the battle between the two Hyperions devastates the landmark, reducing it to rubble.

Yes, that is 616-Hyperion holding up a giant stone nose. I love comics so much. The nose proves to be an ineffective weapon...mainly because it's made of stone and thus cannot produce excess snot, which would have at least helped with the gross-out factor. The two Hyperions then decide to do their own take on the Dragon Ball franchise's beam wars with their atomic vision.

The fireball created by their beams starts edging closer and closer to one of the Hyperions as the Squadron arrives. 616-Hyperion starts ranting that he is better than 712, screaming that he'll never give up, that he'd rather die than let 712 bet him. The atomic fireball heads right for 616, and it goes off. A furious 712-Hype goes up to 616 and starts laying Mighty Punch after Mighty Punch on his weakened counterpart.

A horrified Zarda orders Lamprey to drain 712-Hype's energy so he'll stop, but Lamprey can't. Due to his B-Modding, he can't use his powers on a Squadron member. Doctor Spectrum tries to hold him back with his Power Prism, but it's taking a LOT of effort on his part. Zarda is able to get 712-Hyperion to back off. The usage of his atomic vision has messed up his eyes, as he's only able to see spots. He explains that 616-Hyperion murdered Howard Shelton.

Zarda cradles 616-Hyperion, who is dying from the wounds he received in the battle. Blinded and in pain, he confesses his crimes to her. He admits that he did kill Howard Shelton and begs her forgiveness. With his dying breath, he tells her that he did genuinely love her. The comic ends with 712-Hyperion injured, and a sobbing Princess Power holding the liquefying corpse of 616-Hyperion in her arms.

This issue was really good. It helped subtly show more of the horrors of B-Modding the former Institute of Evil. Dr. Decibel couldn't speak up to prevent Arcanna from deliberately putting her unborn child in danger simply because she doesn't want to be treated like glass, nor could Lamprey expose the fake Hyperion early, possibly preventing the destruction of Presidents Mountain. The B-Mod device was created as form of reformation, and despite Tom Thumb's reassurances, it does strip the free will of its recipients to some degree. Amphibian was a prophet, and Nighthawk's fears were further founded.

It also gave an idea of just how devastating a battle between two beings as powerful as Hyperion could actually get. Keep in mind, Hyperion is a pastiche of Superman. You can pretty much assume that he is the most powerful being on Earth-712. Could you imagine what would happen if the two Hyperions ended up duking it out in a populated area? Man of Steel gave us an idea of what could happen.

Bob Hall returns for this issue, and his art game is really upped here. It looks so much better than the early issues he did. It's also a bit frustrating for two reasons: Where was this Bob Hall in those earlier issues, and why can't this mini keep a consistent artist? Otherwise that, the art was fantastic, and it was really nice to look at.

Next time, we leave Earth-712, and return to the mainstream Marvel Universe, where Captain America finds himself dealing with the crisis on Earth-712 as well as we ask the question: "Where did Nighthawk go?"...

Kirby 25th Anniversary Trailer, My Thoughts

Kirby. Since 1992, the little pink puffball from the planet Popstar has been protecting the universe using his ability to suck enemies up like a vacuum cleaner and use their powers. Created by Masahiro Sakurai, who would also go on to help create the Super Smash Bros. series, Kirby is one of Nintendo's most popular franchises, having a game on practically every console and handheld they put out, from the NES to the 3DS.

And this year, he's turning the big 2-5. Yup, Kirby is celebrating his Silver Jubilee, and Nintendo and HAL are celebrating by putting out this little trailer.

The trailer basically is a look at Kirby's glimpse of his history, a look at the many games he has appeared in during his long adventures.

I have to admit, my experience with the Kirby series is rather...limited. The only Kirby game I played was Nightmare in Dream Land for the GBA, which was a remake of the original NES game Kirby's Adventure. I remember really enjoying that game, and it was also incredibly easy. It was a lot of fun, though. I also played a demo of Planet Robobot, and it was rather enjoyable.

I'll have to be honest, I don't have a lot to say about this trailer. It is a neat trailer, though. It was cool seeing just how many games Kirby has been in and how the character's adventures have evolved over the years. I wonder if there's a celebratory game in the works. Game Freak put out Sun and Moon for the Pokémon franchise's 20th, I wonder if Nintendo and HAL have something like this in the works for Kirby. One can hope.

Marvel vs Capcom Story Mode Trailer #2

After many long years, the Marvel vs. Capcom series is making a comeback! With Infinite on the way, a new story mode trailer is released! And here it is!

The trailer starts with Jedah Dohma from the Darkstalkers series proclaiming that it's time for the "dark kingdom" to rise. Is he talking about Makai? Because that's the kingdom he's from, and the one he wants to restore to order. And he's got a symbiote monster.

Hey, is that Spider-Man? Awesome. But I thought that he was killed off in Spider-Verse. Maybe he found a way to return.

Hey, Ghost Rider's back, too! Awesome! He and Morrigan are ready to take Dohma on...and Dohma is counting on feeling everyone's suffering. Oh-kay...

Hey, appearance by Dr. Light! It would be cool to see him and X interact.

I don't get why people are whining about the graphics. I think they're just mad that the game doesn't look like Injustice 2. But in my opinion, I don't think that graphic style would fit this game. ANd I think people just like to whine for the sake of whining.

And with the Infinity Gems, you can bet Thanos would be involved.

Cap and Iron Man facing off again. Man, they have a thing for that, don't they? Tony, not the time for this.

Ooh, MODOK and Nemesis. MODOK had some funny intro lines in the last game, hope he gets some zingers here.

I hope we get a face-off between Thanos and Dohma.

X and Zero don't know how to fistbump.

Heroes fighting giant symbiote monster. Awesome.

This game sounds like it'll be a lot of fun. Hope it comes to the Switch...

Supergirl #1 (November 1982)

Supergirl. The Girl of Steel. The Maid of Might. And she has come to this here blog before, but at the same time, she has not. You see, like many characters, there have been several incarnations of Supergirl. On my blog, I covered a couple appearances of the Matrix incarnation, as well as the birth of the Linda Danvers incarnation, but I have never reviewed a comic featuring the original Supergirl: Kara Zor-El.

First appearing in 1959, Kara would eventually go on to be one of DC's most iconic heroines. During the character's career until her death in the 1985 maxi-series event Crisis on Infinite Earths, Kara would regularly appear in the comics in some form. She had a back-up in Action Comics, and the end of the 1960s would eventually see her be the lead in Adventure Comics. The 1970s would see her get her own magazine, but it would eventually be merged with Lois Lane and Jimmy Olsen's titles to become Superman Family. Yup, the Superman mythos became so popular in the 1950s and 60s that Jimmy and Lois got their own titles. I distinctly remember reading one old Lois Lane issue when I was a kid. The comic was my father's. However, when 1982 hit, Kara got another shot at a solo title. And the first issue of that is what we'll look at here.

When it comes to the cover, I do have to say something first. I really like the masthead logo for it. It is remisicient of Superman's famous masthead logo, but it also is rather different, showing Kara Zor-El's desire to be her own person. The cover itself is pretty basic, Supergirl flying over a city. However, I think it does kind of fit. The cover puts Kara front and center, showing that yup, she's flying solo, baby! The late great Rich Buckler drew this cover, and he makes Kara look purdy.

Something funny about the city in the background, though. It looks like they took a photograph of a skyline and put it through some filters. The neon coloring kind of clashes, and I think it draws the eye away from Supergirl herself.

"A Very Strange and Special Girl!"
Writer: Paul Kupperberg
Penciller: Carmine Infantino
Inker: Bob Oksner
Letterer: Ben Oda
Colorist: Ziuko
Editor: Julius Schwartz

The comic begins with a spread of Supergirl flying, and the text boxes basically saying who she is and where she's from.

The comic then begins proper on a train, the Lake Shore line heading from New York to Chicago. The ride is a long one, about twenty hours. The narration then goes on a weird tangent about how people prefer to fly because its faster, and how the modern trains didn't have the glory of famous trains like the Orient Express. Okay. But we finally focus on one passenger.

The young lady is in no hurry to get anywhere, hence the train. She marvels at the sights out the window, thinking that one can miss so much when flying. A fellow passenger asks if she flies a lot, and she says...a bit. You see, this is Linda Danvers, aka Kara Zor-El, aka Supergirl. Back in my review for the first issue of Supergirl's 1996 series, I remarked that Peter David wanted to bring back elements of the Silver Age Supergirl's mythos. And among those elements, her Linda Danvers civilian identity.

She asks her fellow passenger if she wants anything from the dining car, and the passenger says he's waiting until he arrives in Chicago. The train ride is twenty hours. I hope he had a big breakfast before this trip, because after twenty hours, he's going to be hungry. He must really want to try that Chicago deep-dish pizza.

She leaves the car and ditches her outfit, revealing her blue-and-red Supergirl costume. She flies out of the train and heads towards what I think may be a foundry or a steel mill. The comic isn't very clear. She saves some workers from some molten metal...which takes the form of pink cotton candy, evidently.

She uses her super-breath to freeze the cotton candy steel. The workers thank her, and she flies off. She returns to the train, to find her car-mate asleep. She takes the opportunity to stare out the window and ponder her life and origin.

The scene then shifts to a building in Chicago. A newscaster has announced a blaze has ripped through a south side tenement, killing three. There's also a gang war going on at the Cabrini-Green area. A man is watching this, and is happy with what he sees. A woman approaches him, saying that it's rather ghoulish that he's so happy about this. It's revealed the man is known as Mr. Pendergast. Pendergast reminds the woman, Gayle Marsh from Skokie, Illinois, that this is what they have worked for.

Gayle sates that she has trouble handling it all. Every time someone dies, she claims she can feel it, like she was there. Pendergast reminds her that she's a "sensitive". I know that the story is trying to hint that Gayle may have some unique ESP-esque powers, but to me, it could also be interpreted that Gayle is just very empathetic towards the victims. Pendergast then states that humanity is basically in bad shape, and that through her, mankind has a chance for survival from the decay that is slowly overcoming it...but only if it's followed to its natural progression.

...Am I the only who thinks this plan is a bit...off? I get what they're going for here with this guy, but it still feels a bit...off to me. Anyway, Pendergast only needs Gayle to do one thing...destroy Chicago.

While this is going down, one Linda Danvers is walking down a street in Chicago, heading towards a college. Yup, our girl Kara is college-bound, and she's heading to the Windy City to earn her degree. Particularly, Lake Shore University. Which is not a real university. I really didn't get why they didn't have her go to an actual one in the Chicago area, like the University of Chicago or Northwestern University. There's a lot of colleges and places like that there.

On the taxi ride there, Linda/Kara thinks back on her being adopted by the Danvers and them helping her grow to love her new home. She arrives at the college, and tries to tell the blonde secretary at the admissions office she wants to apply at the psychology department, but the secretary doesn't hear her. However, it turns out that she wasn't being rude...she was just wearing cotton balls in her ears.

Yeah, I have never worked in a college admissions office, but you'd think that her boss would be frowning on her wearing cotton balls in her ears. I doubt the office is THAT noisy, and it would prevent her from hearing people asking for her help. Not to mention it could give a poor first impression of the university.

Anyway, the girl introduces herself as Joan Raymond. Linda remembers that she has to get to the housing office, but she doesn't have much time. Joan then literally grabs her and drags her to her own building, saying that there's a nice apartment open there, and it's better than the dorms. It's kind of funny to see this human woman dragging a Kryptonian around by the arm.

Linda ends up accidentally colliding with Gayle. Linda tries to take her hand to help her up, but Gayle freaks out, and Linda feels a strange sensation of pain. Gayle then runs for it, and Joan helps Linda up. Joan remarks that Gayle is a bit of an odd duck, but it's not typical of other students. Linda thinks Gayle deserves watching. Gayle wonders why Mr. Pendergast didn't warn her about Linda, thinking that she's one of "Them".

In Rogers Park, Joan introduces Linda to Ida Berkowitz, the landlady of the building. When she learns Kara originally came from New York, she remarks she and her husband Hymie lived there in 1933. She also reveals that she is Polish. Neat, you don't see many Polish-American characters in comics. Ida takes a liking to Linda and gives her the apartment.

An apartment that nice can't be cheap, even in 1982. It's also got no furniture, which I'm sure doesn't help. She then meets a young man.

He introduces himself as John Ostrander. Wait, the John Ostrander? The comic writer? Is this a cameo? Did he look like this back in 1982? Ah, this is going to confuse me. While Linda is checking out her new digs, we look in on Gayle and Mr. Pendergast. Pendergast wonders how "they" could possibly know? And what powers could Linda have to match her own metahuman abilities. It's also revealed that Gayle and her powers were trained since she was a small child to fight the "Decay". I imagine Gayle and Laura Kinney would have a lot in common if they ever met. As such, Pendergast feels they must begin their mission, and they make some preparations.

The day is ending, and Linda is spending it chilling at...I think at some body of water. My geography knowledge fails me here. She feels a strange chill, and sees something in the sky. She changes into Supergirl, and checks it out. During her trip, she lampshades that trouble seems to always follow superheroes around. Heh heh. The strange sight is revealed to be Gayle, clad in a little golden number from the Red Sonja Collection.

Seriously, she'd fit right in if she found herself in Cimmeria. My only complaint? She needs a mask or some way of concealing her identity. She hits Supergirl with a psi-blast which sends the Maiden of Might flying. Supergirl rebounds and tackles Gayle, demanding to know more about this "Decay" Gayle responds by hitting her with a more powerful psi-blast. The two continue to fight, Supergirl pitting her Kryptonian muscle against Gayle's powerful mind. However, there's something else going on.

Mr. Pendergast makes Gayle combine her power with his own, hinting he may have psionic abilities of his own. Gayle begs for this not to happen, as she feels that Supergirl could be an ally against Decay. Pendergast wants to kill Supergirl as she may be aligned with "Decay", but Gayle convinces him to let her live, as she can use Supergirl's power to amplify her own powers...somehow. The comic ends with Gayle psionically holding up an unconscious Supergirl, Pendergast saying that she shall live until her husk can be returned to Decay.

This issue was...rather okay. Technically, it does do a lot of what a first issue is supposed to do in my opinion. It sets up Supergirl's new status quo, gives us a taste of a new supporting cast, and gives her a threat of her own to face, while planting seeds of future stories and obstacles for Supergirl to face. Pednergast seems to be a generic villain, but I do like the twist of Gayle showing reluctance to doing what he wants at times. One thing did annoy me about this issue, and that was John Ostrander. I read ahead and it turns out he's an actual supporting character. So there is a supporting character in this book named after an actual comic creator. That is confusing.

I'm also not quite sure what to say about the art, to be honest. It's not bad art, or anything like that. It does its job.

Next time, we check in on Earth-712 and the Squadron Supreme's attempt to fix their ruined world...

Yoshi Switch Trailer, My Thoughts

The Nintendo Switch has a ton of games coming for it in the next couple of years, and 2018 is going to see the Switch debut of a certain green dinosaur. That's right, Yoshi is going to have an epic new adventure on the Switch! And here's the trailer!

The trailer starts with what looks like a building and city street that looks like it was made of paper. That's some amazing papercrafting there. I wonder who made it? Anyway, the scene has a sign that says "There Are Two Sides To Every Story"...

and FLIP! The scene flips over, the sign's other side saying "And Every Stage". And I think we just got shown this game's main mechanic.

At first, I thought Yoshi looked like he did in Wooly World, the whole yarn thing. But on closer inspection, I'm not sure what he looks like he's made up here. Can't be clay, can it? Not kids' modeling clay, like Play-Doh or anything.

I love the look of this world. Everything looks like it was made of cardboard, straws, basically craft stuff. It's so bright and cute. I love the part where Yoshi rampages with the dinosaur skull on his head.

I can see some interesting uses for using the "flip-the-stage" mechanic. One is obviously for hiding secrets, but I can also see it being used in clever ways to get around certain obstacles and finding weaknesses in bosses.

We do get to see what looks maybe like a boss: a purple dragon-snake-train. Purple Dragon-Snake-Train is pretty cool. I love the ground in that scene. It's like a little kid drew some train tracks.

This was a very cute trailer, with some very nice music. I think this game will be a lot of fun once it gets released.

Ever Oasis Launch Trailer, My Thoughts

With Nintendo announcing they will continue supporting the 3DS (which is a good thing as far as I'm concerned), it makes sense there are more games out getting developed and released for it. Grezzo is one of the developers that is providing such further gaming fun for the handheld. And their creation? Ever Oasis. Let's look at the launch trailer, shall we?

First of all, I have to say, I did download and play the demo, and it was really cute. I had a lot of fun playing through it, and I really enjoyed the mix of action RPG and city-building elements.

Basically, the game allows you to play as a little character called a Seedling. Your world has been ravaged by an evil force known as Chaos. But there is hope. Your world is a giant desert, but you can build a place where people can find relief from its harsh endless sands. You can build them...an oasis. Alongside a water spirit named Esna, your character fights to save their world from Chaos, and make your oasis the greatest one ever.

The game allows you to fight monsters, recruit allies of a variety of other species, and recruit other Seedlings to build booths in your oasis where you can obtain gear and other things you need to do your missions out on the desert. The game has an Ancient Egyptian aesthetic, and it's amazing to look at.

I also liked that you could bring a couple allies with you to help you on missions. Each of the allies has a unique skill, so you have to pick carefully which ones to bring in for the missions. I like this, makes you think carefully and plan ahead.

Holy crud, a giant gold skeleton. That's pretty cool.

I get the feeling that the main villain is another Seedling. It's pretty obvious.

Based on the demo I played, there could be quite a bit to do in this game, which is good. Gives a reason to keep on playing.

This trailer was neat to look at. Didn't have a lot to say about it, as I had already played the free demo long before I saw this. If you have a member of the 3DS handheld family, I recommend downloading the free demo and giving it a try. Don't be surprised if you have a ton of fun playing it. I can't wait to get the full game myself.

The Incredible Hulk #276 (October 1982)

The Incredible Hulk. Ol' Jade Jaws. The Not-So-Jolly Green Giant. Marvel's Mightiest Mortal. Born of rage and gamma radiation, the Incredible Hulk has for the past fifty years, smashed anyone who stands against him. He's been seen as a hero, an outcast, and a monster. He's been green and gray. Through it all, he's become one of Marvel's greatest characters.

Among the many threats he's faced over the years are a group called the U-Foes. First appearing in The Incredible Hulk #254 (December 1980), they were headed by a power-hungry rich businessman named Simon Utrecht, the U-Foes duplicated the spaceflight that empowered the Fantastic Four, giving them twisted versions of the Fantastic Four's powers. In-universe, they got their name as a nod to Utrecht, but in real life, it was a nod to the 1979 Graham Parker song "Waiting For The UFOs".

Funny enough, I don't think they ever fought the Fantastic Four. It's such an obvious face-off there. Anyway, let's take a look at one of Hulk's encounters with this fearsome foursome: Incredible Hulk #276 from October 1982.

The cover is pretty cool. The Hulk is under siege from the U-Foes! This twisted wannabe Fantastic Four is giving ol' Jade Jaws quite a fight, using their numbers to their advantage. It's a very well-drawn cover.

"The Return of the U-Foes!"
Writer: Bill Mantlo
Penciller: Sal Buscema
Inker: Joe Sinnott
Letterer: Jim Novak
Colorist: Bob Sharen
Editor: Al Milgrom
Editor-In-Chief: Jim Shooter

The story begins with Rick Jones lying on a slab, the gamma radiation in his system slowly killing him.

In a previous issue, Rick Jones had exposed himself to massive doses of gamma radiation in an attempt to give himself the power to aid the Hulk against a group of aliens. However, reality decides to ensue for poor Rick. Instead of turning into a powerful green monster, Rick Jones ends up with the mother of all instances of radiation poisoning.

The apparatus over him belongs to Bereet, an alien filmmaker who uses advanced technology to film her art films. The Hulk is a favorite subject of hers. Her Life-Support Spider is able to stabilize Rick, but it's unable to heal him. That's where Dr. Bruce Banner came in. Banner attempts to use a gamma ray projector to draw the excess gamma power out of Rick.

Banner turns the machine to reverse, saying that he tried using this method to cure himself of the Hulk, but it didn't work due to his system have so much gamma radiation in it. The process does work on Rick, but something is wrong. The machine won't shut off, much to Betty Ross and Bereet's horror. Banner realizes that the machine won't stop siphoning energy out of Rick, including his "life energies". Okay. Science in the Marvel Universe is weird.

Banner then changes into the Hulk willingly. As Hulk, he's easily able to destroy the machine, saving Rick. Bereet applauds, while Betty is shocked. Betty demands to know how this happened. Bruce theorizes that essentially he had been exposed to gamma radiation during his various recent adventures (which included the debut of Rocket Raccoon), including his attempts to cure himself, altered his system allowing him to not only change into the Hulk willingly, but also retain his mind.

I love this sequence. It gives a sense of motion to the action. My mind's eye can picture Bruce changing to Hulk and back with the dialogue. I love it.

Rick and Bereet are overjoyed to hear this, as it means that Bruce has finally found a way to live with the Hulk. Betty, though...is not quite as enthused. She's angry at Bruce because he wanted to be cured of the Hulk, but now seemingly doesn't mind this new status quo. Well, to be fair, maybe Bruce is trying to make the best of things. Think about it. Every attempt Bruce has made to cure himself has failed miserably. But now, thanks to all the recent adventures he's had, Bruce has actual control over the Hulk now. He can still be Bruce, and access the Hulk's power. In essence, if he can't get rid of the Hulk, he has the next best thing.

Bereet, though, tells Bruce she is overjoyed for this new turn in his life, and then he realizes for some reason that not only is she there, she's an alien. Bruce, you mean you never noticed the alien woman with the Red Sonja goes sci-fi outfit and bag of tricks with you this whole time? Bruce then decides he'll table the issue of Bereet filming him later, as he wants to talk to Betty.

Betty and Bruce then converse over this new status quo. Betty dislikes it basically because basically...she wants to have a normal life with Bruce. She wants to be a regular housewife, with a kid while Bruce does a regular job, not turning into a green rage monster who goes around getting into brawls with monsters and supervillains alike.

There is one good point that Betty raises. I'm not quite sure at the time if Bruce's identity as the Hulk was public, but if it did end up public, supervillains would attack him at his home, endangering his loved ones. There certainly were supervillains ruthless enough to do so, even back in those days. Bruce counters that he would only use the power of the Hulk when it was absolutely needed, to stop natural disasters and the like. He promises her he'll never change into the Hulk unless Betty wants him to. However, he may have to break that promise.

Yup! The U-Foes are back, and they are fighting mad! Betty is unfamiliar with them, and Bruce basically explains that they are a twisted version of the Fantastic Four, created when Simon Utrecht (Vector), re-created the shuttle flight that gave them their powers. They did this out a desire to gain power so people would give them respect and adulation. Using their powers, they attack Banner, and give him a beating. Bruce then decides that if they want the Hulk, they'll get the Hulk.

Ironclad figures that Bruce's brain in control of the Hulk won't save him from his steel-like fists. He thought wrong. He easily sends Ironclad flying with one punch, and then disperses Vapor with a thunderclap. Vector and Hulk get into a fight involving them tossing debris at each other. Bereet uses a special sphere to protect herself, Rick, and Betty from the fight.

X-Ray flies in, realizing the U-Foes need a plan and to work as a team to fight Hulk. He blasts the Green Goliath with "Negative Gamma rays", causing him to change back into Bruce Banner. Ironclad returns and downs the scientist with one punch. To ensure he gets knocked out, Vapor flies in and turns her gaseous form into an anesthetic, taking Banner on a trip to Dreamland.

Vector decides to give the Hulk a public execution, saying it will give the U-Foes the fame and adulation they desire. Not to mention, if they could kill the Hulk, then no one might dare take them on. Yeah, about that...the Hulk is a former Avenger. Somehow, Vector, I don't think Earth's Mightiest Heroes would take too kindly to you killing one of their own, even if his relationship with the team could be rocky at times.

One of Bereet's toys witnesses this, and alerts her to it. Rick Jones is shocked, as he believed nobody could beat the Hulk. Bereet states they must save Bruce Banner from the U-Foes. Betty furiously refuses. Bereet takes it well.

A furious Bereet reminds Betty that she aided them when Rick was dying, and that she has a duty as a human to help someone in danger. Betty reminds her that she was helping Hulk while Bereet was back in her homeworld making movies. She agrees to help, but it will be the last time. Rick states they'll need a plan. Bereet has a simple one. Her spatial distorter is a literal bag of tricks, you see. It contains more than just her equipment she uses to film her movies. She also creates techno-art that can be used for more utilitarian purposes, like...personal defense. As she shows with her Defendroids.

The plan is a simple one. The Defendroids will engage the U-Foes, and Bereet, Rick, and Betty will take advantage of their distraction to find and free Banner.

I am not exactly sure what to say about this comic, to be honest. It's not a bad comic, not a bad comic at all. I have to say it's a rather enjoyable comic. It feels like a bit of a breather in a way. But that's not a bad thing, considering the epic adventures Hulk had previously. The fight with the U-Foes was good. It's neat to see a team of villains working as a team. I do think Betty's portrayal is a bit iffy, though. Can't quite put my finger on it. Sal Buscema turns in some good art, and Joe Sinnott's inking makes it look very clean. I got the scans from the Incredible Hulk trade paperback The Incredible Hulk: Pardoned, and I highly recommend it. Bill Mantlo was a rather underrated writer in my opinion, especially on Hulk.

Next time, we'll take a look at a daring adventure of Supergirl...

Guardians Inferno Music Video

James Gunn is insane. Seriously. The man is insane...and brilliant. Check this out.

Directed by David Yarovesky, this video is gloriously insane. It feels like somebody took Solid Gold and put it through a 1970s filter. It captures the look of the era very well, thanks to it being filmed with actual 1970s tube cameras.

It's gotten millions of views, and it is easy to see why. The song is funky, and it's awesome to see the cast of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 all embracing the disco look. And of course, David Hasselhoff. Everything is better with the Hoff.

This video is awesome. It's just brilliant.

Amazing Spider-Man #2 (May 1963)

1963. Spider-Man was just starting out, not just as a superhero, but on his journey to becoming one of Marvel's most popular and beloved characters. This issue depicts his first battle with a supervillain, and in honor of Peter Parker's MCU solo debut, which I reviewed here, I thought it would be nice to review his first battle...with the Vulture.

The Vulture is not only the first of a Rogues Gallery that would rival Batman's in fame, he was one of the very first supervillains that Spider-Man ever fought. And since he was the main villain in Homecoming, I thought it would be cool to take a look at his first appearance: Amazing Spider-Man Number #2!

...I know that I said I'd review a comic focusing on the Incredible Hulk, but I saw Spider-Man: Homecoming, and it inspired me to do this comic instead. I apologize for that, readers. But don't you worry. Ol' Jade Jaws will get his time in the sun in this blog. I promise you that. Anyway, on to Amazing Spider-Man #2!

The cover is...a rather busy one. There's the masthead, the image of Spider-Man tussling with the Vulture, the big blurb, and the side panel of Spidey getting zapped by the Tinkerer. It's a lot to take in. It was kind of the style of covers of the time, though. As such it would not be completely fair to judge it by modern standards. It is a well-drawn cover, and I'm sure at the time, it got people hyped to see what was in it.

"Duel to the Death with the Vulture!"
Writer: Stan Lee
Artist: Steve Ditko
Letterer: John Duffy

The story begins with Spider-Man and Vulture duking it out in the sky over New York City.

However, this is just a spread. The real story begins with a man walking down the street in the city, an odd-shaped shadow looming over him. Then, the Vulture strikes!

With speed like the wind, the villain swoops down and snatches the man's briefcase. The man screams for help, saying that the suitcase contained a fortune in bonds. No one is able to help him, as the flying man moved to fact to be caught.

J. Jonah Jameson hears about this and demands pictures of the Vulture. He's got a magazine to print, and he wants it dedicated to the strange new supervillain. Yes, JJ published a magazine alongside the Daily Bugle. However, his employees tell him that no one has been able to get any good photos of the Vulture. At a high school, kids are talking about the Vulture. Peter overhears this and figures that his spider-powers may allow him to get said photos. After all, magazines do pay good money for hard-to-get photos...and Peter could use some extra cash.

Luckily, Aunt May had a miniature camera that belonged to Uncle Ben. She lets him have it, and he figures out a way to incorporate the camera into his costume. Meanwhile, in his lair, the Vulture is reading the news.

I am going to kick my iPad's scanner.

He learns that the Park Avenue's jewelry exchange is moving lots of diamonds to their new offices across town. He figures that since he's become more of a public figure, the authorities may be expecting him. Vulture's look here really shows why I love the MCU's take on his costume a lot. In the MCU, the wings aren't attached to his arms, which frees them to use weapons and tools. He also wears a helmet which helps him out twofold. It gives his head protection from the rigors of flight...and it also allows him to conceal his identity. Anyway, he figures out how he can get the diamonds unimpeded, and flies off.

He flies into the city, and Spider-Man spots him. During his flight, he sends some taunting messages to Jameson, the radio network (This was 1963), and the chief of police. He basically just tosses some rocks with notes wrapped around them through the window. Your MCU counterpart laughs at you, Adrian. He spots Spider-Man following him, and takes him out.

Evidently, Peter's Spider-Sense was on a coffee break. Vulture then takes the dazed Spidey and puts him in a water tank. Spider-Man tries to web out, but his web-shooters run dry. He can't climb out, as the walls are too slick. So, he makes a mighty leap and he manages to escape. He retrieves his camera and heads home. He develops his pictures, figuring he'd get a kick out of making the Spidey-hating Jameson pay money for his pictures of him. He also modifies his Spider-Man costume, adding a belt to carry extra cartridges of web fluid, and then modifies the buckle so it can carry his miniature camera. He also gets to work building another gadget, having a theory as to how the Vulture's flight harness works. The next day, Peter sells his photos to Jameson, on the condition that Jameson never asks how he got them. JJ is so happy to get the photos he agrees.

The day of the jewelry transfer arrives. Peter and his schoolmates go to watch it...were teenagers in the 1960s really into watching stuff like this? I think they're hoping the Vulture will show up. Anyway, Peter slips away so he can watch out for the Vulture as Spider-Man. The cops escort the holder of the jewels...until they reach a manhole cover.

Yup, Vulture was hiding in the sewers. He must smell awful. The flying criminal escapes through the sewers...which somehow allows him to fly into the subway system? Weird. Anyway, Spidey manages to catch up to Vulture, and the two tussle in the air for a while. Spider-Man then activates his special gadget. The gadget does its job, shorting out Vulture's wings. The two plummet, and Spidey is able to save himself thanks to his webs, Vulture gliding to the ground. A police helicopter spots the downed Vulture.

Spidey secretly gets his photos and sells them to Jameson. The story ends with him bringing his money home to a delighted Aunt May, and the Vulture plotting revenge in jail. They let him wear the Vulture costume in jail. That's silly.

This comic also comes with a second story, so let's take a look at that one, shall we? A nice little bonus.

"The Uncanny Threat of the Terrible Tinkerer!"
Writer: Stan Lee
Penciller: Steve Ditko
Letterer: Art Simek

The story begins with Peter Parker working in the science lab at school, and he gets introduced to a man.

The man is Professor Cobbwell, a prominent electronics expert. He has some research he wants to do over the weekend, and he is looking for an assistant. He has heard about Peter's knack for science from his teacher, and wants his help on some experiments. Peter is honored, and happily agrees. He also asks if he can pick up a radio for him from the repair shop.

The next day, Peter goes off on the errand, and meets the radio's repairman: Phineas Mason, aka the Tinkerer.

Kinda funny he doesn't try to hide that he has a supervillain nom-de-guerre. Although to be fair, the general public at the time could play it off as a harmless nickname. Peter's Spider-Sense picks up danger, but he figures that Tinkerer isn't really dangerous, just his equipment making his danger-detecting power go bananas. Tinkerer goes downstairs and gets handed the repaired radio.

Yup, the Tinkerer is working with what appears to be a group of aliens. The aliens have further modified the radio for an unknown purpose, but it is likely not a good one. And they've been doing this with other people's radios, too. Tinkerer hands back the radio, and states it only cost a dime. Peter is shocked at the price, but Tinkerer explains that bargains bring in customers. Peter brings the radio to Cobbwell, who explains the cheap price and good work is why he brought the radio to the Tinkerer in the first place. Peter is suspicious of this, as there's no way Tinkerer could be making a profit repairing radios at such a low price.

He decides to table the issue and concentrate on his work for Cobbwell. His Spider-Sense goes off, picking up the same electronic disturbance at Tinkerer's lab. But the radio is shut off. Cobbwell then leaves to do some errands, and Peter examines the radio. He finds some unusual components in it, and decides to investigate the Tinkerer's shop. He discovers a secret passage and finds...

Yup! The Tinkerer's radios contain special listening devices that allow then to learn about Earth's weaknesses. Wait, what? More on this later. Spider-Man spies on the aliens as they listen in on a colonel, but gets spotted. Spidey tries to fight his way out, but the Tinkerer manages to blast him with an energy beam and send him to the land of unconsciousness.

When Spidey wakes up, he finds himself trapped in a transparent dome. The Tinkerer and his alien allies then start to drain the air out of it, ensuring he will suffocate, and their plans will go unimpeded...or do they? Spidey finds some holes in the dome. He carefully lines up his webshooter with the hole and fires, webbing the button and freeing himself. He punches two of the aliens into the control panel, destroying it. The aliens flee, and abandon Tinkerer. The place is burning down. Spidey tries to save the elderly evil tech whiz, but he's trying to fight off the webhead. Spidey is ultimately forced to flee the building.

The aliens flee in their spaceship, remotely destroying the modified radios, and vowing never to return to Earth, as they fear humanity will be ready for them next time. Peter makes it back to the lab and changes back into his civvies by the time Cobbwell returns. When Cobbwell returns, he claims that he saw a spaceship, but shakes it off. Peter is left thinking about this adventure while holding a mask, hinting the Tinkerer was an alien in disguise.

Yeah, this would be retconned as the aliens actually being a bunch of human criminals in disguise.

This issue is...rather mixed to me. Honestly, I think the Vulture story is the stronger of the two tales in this book. It's a basic "Villain steal stuff, hero stop them" story, which can be done well in a short comic story using half the pages. The Tinkerer story, though? I do feel that it would have needed more pages to breathe. And quite a bit of it made me scratch my head. If Tinkerer's radios were used to spy on Earth's defenses...why was one done for Cobbwell? The story didn't establish that he was doing any important work for the government (If he was, he would not have been able to grab some high school kid to help him with it), so why did they modify his radio, too? Honestly, if this story was given its own separate issue with the full page count, it would be a lot better. Steve Ditko turns in some fine art in this issue.

Do I recommend getting this comic? Well, if you are a Spider-Man fan, get it. It's been reprinted in a couple trades, like Amazing Spider-Man Masterworks, Vol. 1, and Amazing Spider-Man Epic Collection Vol. 1: Great Power. You know, I just realized something. Both Vulture and Tinkerer debuted in this comic. And they both were in Homecoming. Yeah, Tinkerer was in Homecoming. Was this comic the inspiration for the movie? It's unlikely, but...that is a neat bit of cosmic serendipity.

Next time, as I promised, we'll take a look at an adventure of the Incredible Hulk...

Justice League SDCC Trailer, My Thoughts

Thor: Ragnarok was not the only film whose trailer has gotten people talking. Marvel's Distinguished Competition had released another trailer for their upcoming superhero epic: Justice League. And here it is.

The trailer begins with a group of men walking into a building, and they have trouble on their minds. They're taking hostages, and Wonder Woman just busts right on in, and she's all like, "Yeah, this ain't cool. I'm gonna have to end this thing right here." And she proceeds to go Amazon Warrior on them...while indulging Snyder's massive thing for slow motion. Seriously, why does Snyder love slo-mo so much? Too much makes it lousy.

Heh heh, Wonder Woman has no plans for the weekend. She really plans to beat up some bad guys.

There's a radio broadcast saying the world is mourning Superman after his death. And they were saying that there was no hope without him...uh, wasn't everyone afraid of him? Didn't Batman want to kill him?

That bit where they called Superman a beacon of hope made me laugh. Keep in mind, the DCEU had been showing that everyone was AFRAID of Superman.

Diana says she never thought the age of heroes would never return. What is she talking about? As far as we know, there was her in WWI, and she stopped being Wonder Woman for some reason (I imagine WWII had something to do with it). As far as I know, the DCEU had no Justice Society, so...what age of heroes is she talking about?
It's kind of a shame the DCEU has no JSA. They could've been the forebearers of the modern superhero age, and it would not be hard to explain why they were no longer around...they got old. And you could draw from the comics and history by saying they were forced to retire in the 1950s by the HUAC. There.

The Amazons are gonna get jobbed, aren't they?

Hi, Arthur Curry! Enjoy your swim?

Hi, Cyborg! Why aren't you with the Titans again? Oh yeah, the DCEU probably has no Titans.

Wow. Steppenwolf really...wrecked that ground.

Exploding wind-up penguins? I wanna see that!

I'm honestly hoping Wonder Woman ends up leading this League. She's got more experience heroing than anyone else.

Lots of fighting, superpowers being used. Cyborg taking over the Batmobile...Batplane...Bat-Overcompensating vehicle was pretty funny.

"Superman was a beacon to the world." ...HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA. I was expecting a laugh track. And that was coming from the man who tried to kill him because he was afraid of him.

Oh God, I hope the Amazons don't get jobbed.

I like Aquaman. Aquaman's fun.

Heh heh, poor Flash. Everyone left without him. And he got stuck with that rather...crazy suit. Seriously, the one on the TV show looks really good.

"He said you'd come. Let's hope you're not too late." ...Alfred's talking to Superman, isn't he?

Well, I have to say, this trailer was an enjoyable one to watch. I'm hoping this film is actually good. Wonder Woman was good, so I hope that streak continues. And I also kind of hope the Amazons don't get jobbed. The Amazons are cool, they don't deserve to be jobbed.